The World Health Organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom, has urged wealthy countries to donate COVID-19 vaccines to poorer nations.
Of the 1.4 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered globally, 44% of those have been administered in high-income countries. Only 0.3% of vaccines have reached the 29 lowest income countries, where 9% of the world’s population call home. The WHO has warned that this inequity in vaccine access could result in 2021 experiencing more death than in the first year of the pandemic. With wealthy countries now looking to vaccinate adolescents and children, the WHO are encouraging these countries to instead donate their vaccines through COVAX. This would allow poorer nations to access vaccines and protect their healthcare workers and vulnerable priority groups.
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The Guardian: Vaccinate vulnerable global poor before children in rich countries, WHO says